Many computer users are familiar with and adept at using word processing applications such as Microsoft® Word to create documents. Such documents can include various styles to create desired formatting, as well as other elements such as tables, lists, and embedded resources like images and binary files.
While a document created using a word processing application can easily be converted to a printed form that closely approximates the styles and elements selected by the user to create the document, such a document may not be easily publishable on a web site. For example, the various document styles, elements, and resources embedded in a document may not be compatible with the format used to present content on a web page.
Further, while word processing applications allow for flexibility in the styles and elements that are used to create a document, web pages that are created by simply converting a document to a web-compatible format such as hypertext markup language (HTML) may not fit into the “look and feel” of the pages for a particular web site. For example, many web sites have a consistent format (e.g., font types and sizes, colors, image locations, etc.) that is used for each page so that the look and feel of the site is relatively uniform as a user navigates through the site's pages. However, a page created through simple conversion of a document created by a word processing application may not fit into the style of a particular web site.
For example, a user can use a word processing application to create a document that subsequently needs to be added to a web site. The document can include various styles and elements available in the word processing application. To convert the document to a web page, typically the contents of the document is copied into a text editing program to remove all formatting, and the contents is then copied into an HTML editor such as Microsoft® FrontPage® so that the contents can be formatted as desired to reflect the site's formatting. In addition, any resources (e.g., images, binary files) embedded in the document are manually copied to a desired location on the web server, and links to the resources are manually recreated on the web page using the HTML editor. Such a process for manually converting a document to a web page can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods that can transform documents to web pages that can be displayed using a web browser.